GoPro are the hands-down leaders in compact action cameras, everyone knows it. Unfortunately for the competition, GoPro have just stepped up again.
Just to update you on the range, the Hero 5 Black is now a camera with such advanced functions (and price) that it's clearly targeting the professional film-makers. In the past, the GoPro Silver was aimed at the amateur enthusiast but was a vast step down in quality and capability - not any more!
The GoPro Silver has been removed and replaced with the Hero 5 Session. This camera has 90% of the top functions including 4k filming, 10MP stills, video stabilisation, simultaneous video and still capture, voice control, wifi and Bluetooth connectivity, advanced wind noise reduction via 2 microphones and it's waterproof to 10 metres without any additional external housing which also goes to greatly improve the sound quality.
Not only that, but they've managed to fit everything into a very compact cube shape, making the camera easier to attach to literally anything and operation is via a large shutter button and a mode selection button with a slim lcd display to tell you what's happening.
The only thing you might miss (as an amateur) is the large touch display that comes with the 5 Black and the battery is built-into the Session, so when it runs flat you have to allow time to re-charge.
To help get over the lack of a touch display, there is the GoPro phone app which when connected provides full camera control and live stream of what's being recorded. You can also playback recorded clips and edit them into a movie. Something to note though is that I found the app was a little glitchy and required an immediate update. My phone would also connect to the camera fine indoors but struggled outside, but that might just be my phone.
All in all the GoPro Hero 5 Session is a fantastic upgrade on the old Silver range, capable of performing in all conditions. It is still quite expensive but should give an amateur years of use without the constant chase for better quality.
